MP targets parochial Libs

December 5 2002By Michael GordonNational Editor

Veteran federal Liberal MP Bob Charles has delivered a scathing critique of his party in Victoria, saying it was dominated by those who are more interested in personality and their individual interests than the common good.

Mr Charles has also accused the state organisation of being too preoccupied with state politics and "pretending Canberra doesn't exist".

The five-time winner of elections in the marginal seat of La Trobe described himself as "a dot of blue in a sea of red", with six state seats covered by his electorate now held by Labor.

He plans to make a verbal submission to former party federal director Lynton Crosby, who is to probe the causes of the disastrous result for the Liberals in last Saturday's state election.

"I think we've got to get back to trying to find people who care more about our philosophical base than worrying about whether they are in a position of so-called power or not, which has proved to be entirely illusory," Mr Charles said.");document.write("

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Although the Liberal Party was no longer barracking for states' rights to the extent it once was, Mr Charles said the party structure was still state-based and "the whole emphasis of the organisational wing of the party is on state politics".

"I think we have to learn as a political party in Victoria that there's a big game in town called Canberra and we've got to work together, not pretend Canberra doesn't exist," he said.

Mr Charles said he was speaking out because he wanted to see aw change of the culture in the party, if not structural reform.

While he was not close to the organisation, he suspected internal polling must have shown the state Liberals were in trouble well before the election, "but there was far too much in-fighting to allow a concerted effort" to recover.

Although the parliamentary Liberal Party "sort of coasted along", he argued that many state Liberal MPs "were out there working hard every day".

Another prominent federal Liberal MP, Phil Barresi, said he planned to raise this issue with Mr Crosby, saying the investigation needed to examine why incumbency did not work for many state MPs.

Mr Barresi said the review also should examine the strength of the Green vote in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, which highlighted the need for the Howard Government to communicate its environmental credentials to younger voters.

The most senior Liberal politician in Victoria, Treasurer Peter Costello, backed the call for a change in culture, saying there was a need to "re-energise" the membership and party office-bearers.